What Makes a Good Manager

In addition to being managers of technology, CIOs have the responsibility of being managers of people as well. In IT, it is common to see superstar technologists promoted into management as a reward for their incredible work as individual contributors. As this happens, there are often many attributes that they need to develop that go beyond the day-to-day technology competencies upon which they have built their careers. When this happens, the question arises as to what qualities differentiate a good manager from one who is not. The goal for any new manager is to focus on these skills.

Google had the same question and wanted to know what differentiated good managers from the rest. In 2008, they commenced a project called Project Oxygen studying their highest-performing managers. Over the past decade, they have studied management techniques across their workforce in order to determine the most common behaviors of effective managers.

In the end, they have identified 10 behaviors that differentiate their best managers from the others.

Coaching

The top trait of a successful manager at Google is that the person is considered “a good coach”. This means that they can do two things simultaneously - effectively teach and advise employees on how to perform tasks and at the same time offer constructive feedback to them to guide them along. This requires the technical prowess needed to provide solid technical instruction, paired with emotional intelligence (EQ) to help steer more junior resources through maturation to the point where they are self-sufficient.

Empowerment

A great manager empowers their team and does not micromanage. Being a good coach and coaching can require a delicate balance. As the second-ranked trait of good managers at Google is that they do not micromanage employees. Instead, they empower their team to take control of their own work and projects. They do this through thoughtful feedback and advice. This ensures that their employees have enough control and autonomy to get their work done without constant interference that can cause delays and hurt performance.

Inclusivity

A great manager creates an inclusive team environment. This includes showing genuine concern for the success and well-being of each of their team members. Employees want to feel valued by their managers, so a good boss takes an active interest in their employees’ individual success and happiness with their work.

Results Oriented

Good managers are productive and results-oriented. They have a clear and established set of goals for their employees. This goal setting and goal management help a manager keep their employees on track to produce consistent results without having to micromanage their daily work.

Communication

This individual is a good communicator. They listen and share information. Communication skills are necessary for success in nearly any position, but for managers it is critical.

Career Development

The best bosses at Google show a vested interest in their employees’ growth and future success. They discuss the topic of career development with their employees often and provide the resources necessary for their employees to succeed. This support can make them happier, resulting in them being more effective workers.

Visionary and Strategic

A leader needs to be able to have a clear vision and strategy for the team and for the individuals on the team. They need to be able present employees with clear and articulated goals and with an associated road map to achieving these goals. This ensures that the team can work efficiently at an operational, tactical, and strategic level. The best team vision and strategy ties directly to the business's vision and strategy. This ensures that employees have a clear connection to the organization that they are part of.

Technically Competent

A great manager has key technical skills to can help advise the team. In most cases, a manager needs to have a strong grasp of the same skills their employees must possess in order to advise them on how to best complete their tasks. They do not have to deploy their technical skills on a day-to-day basis in the same way that their teams do, but they do need to be able to have a strong technological empathy for the challenges and obstacles that their teams face and need to be able to provide insight when the team needs a fresh pair of eyes on a problem.

Collaborative across Organization

At a large company like Google, which has thousands of employees working on everything from architecture to coding software to network infrastructure, it is important for managers to be able to collaborate with other teams of employees and have a good understanding of whom to go to for assistance. A crucial mistake many bosses make is trying to make every decision themselves, rather than knowing when to rely on the expertise of others and who those experts are.

Decisive

It is important that a good manager be a strong decision-maker. In the end, hemming and hawing over important decisions ends up wasting your employees’ time, and subsequently your time as a manager, and causes angst and churn amongst your team.

With the results of Project Oxygen, Google has leveraged these traits as guidelines for training its own managers and improving their performance. Over the past decade, Google says the company has seen improvements in areas like employee performance, satisfaction, and turnover as a result of Project Oxygen.

As a CIO, it is important to be able to look at both yourselves and the leaders that you have in your organization and evaluate whether or not they have these skills. If there is a deficiency, you have to make the tough decision as to whether each individual has the potential to develop these qualities with the right mentoring or how to work to transition them successfully back into being a superstar technologist. In the end, your organizational health is heavily influenced by how effective your management team is in developing these 10 traits.